February 03, 2014
Hapu left out of settlements
The New Zealand Maori Council wants to rewrite settlement legislation to give hapu more say.
The council is meeting at Waitangi over the next couple of days to report on its achievements of the past year and its aspirations for the current one.
Co-chair Maanu Paul says after beating off what was seen as an attempt to wind up it up by overhauling the 1962 Maori Council Development Act, the council wants to create a more stable platform for Maori self-government so Maori organisations are not at the mercy of the Government of the day.
He says it is also concerned at how the crown has created runanga to manage treaty settlements which have no accountability to iwi or hapu.
"When we got off our waka we got off as hapu. There were no runanga around, and that’s the traditional power base of Maoridom, and it’s also the power base of the Maori Council and we need to reassert that and we need to review the whole act and say to Maori we have the capacity to govern ourselves and as such we should create the legislation and change it to suit us rather than suiting the Government,," Mr Paul says.
The council sees no conflict with the Iwi Leaders hui which is happening at Waitangi at the same time, because the council is able to take a national perspective.
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